Friday, November 04, 2005

What not to wear

I watched Trinny and Susannah doing makeovers for the over-70s a couple of nights ago. I really never expected them to get round to us real oldies, and I believe they had some doubts themselves about whether it would work. But it worked out pretty good, and I know now what I want for my birthday. I do break many of their rules, like putting comfort before style - (elasticated waists, flat shoes with big toe boxes etc) and there is nothing I feel so at home in as a check lumberjack shirt over a T-shirt with trousers.But to be honest, every time I give any serious consideration to the possibility of a makeover, I come up with endless objections to justify not making the effort. For instance, there was a positively fearsome all-in-one corset in this show, and although I used to wear such a thing for special occasions a very long time ago, I cannot contemplate getting back into one again, even in the interests of lifting and separating once more! And then there's glasses: "She's hiding behind those old-fashioned glasses" said Trinny (or Susannah). "Oh right" says I, "contact lenses just wouldn't work for me" - and when the old-fashioned glasses were in fact replaced by fashionable rimless ones: "Well of course" says I, "the nose piece on those would drive me mad, I just couldn't wear that style". A new haircut, colour and styling: "Oh I could never maintain that with my hair" says I, "might as well not bother". High heels? " Oh my ankles would turn over in a minute"!And yet ..... the new sparkle in their eyes, the new confident bearing, the delight of families and friends, the fellas who pronounced them to be "sexy ladies" again ..... could it possibly be worth it? And to be fair, on this occasion Trinny and Susannah even sanctioned a pair of modified trainers!

2 comments:

Pam
said...

Well, Judith, who'd have thought it - I didn't see the programme, so having read what you had to say I thought I'd better find out more. I found T & S's website, and could see what you meant! Quite a transformation - twice over! Just goes to show, doesn't it?

That's the brilliance of their show: although the makeover is to all intents an external one, the really effective makeover is of the person's self image and self-confidence. It's a tremendous pleasure to see the happy, lively people when they come out the other side, after all the doubts expressed to camera, all the morose put-downs about the pushy twosome, almost different people than the frumpy or nervous dullards they started as.

But you, you're fine. Your self-image needs no makeover. You're confident enough to be you without a makeover, and you're by far the youngest 77-year-old of all the 77-year-olds I know. In fact you're younger than some 60-year-olds I know.

So (thanks to Billy Joel) Don't go changing; I like you just the way you are.

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About Me

This blog is about leaving my footprint behind when I go. It's also about finding out who I am now, even if it's a different person each day. It's about thinking, feeling, learning and changing - and about laughing too, I hope; and it's about filling my life with new people and making each new day interesting.